2019 PANELIST

DAVID HAWKSWORTHCHEF + OWNER

HAWKSWORTH RESTAURANT GROUPVANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA

David Hawksworth is a celebrated Canadian chef who realized his culinary vision at his first eponymous restaurant in the very heart of downtown Vancouver. At Hawksworth Restaurant, which opened in 2011, he has created the ideal setting to deliver compelling contemporary Canadian cuisine; a demonstration of his European-trained technical ability, deep appreciation for local ingredients and an absolute insistence on only the very best quality.

Echoing the original Hawksworth Restaurant’s focus on exemplary service in an extraordinary setting, Nightingale’s social approach to dining offers seasonal and vegetable forward dishes that showcase local ingredients with global influences.

In the fall of 2015 Chef Hawksworth began a culinary partnership with Air Canada to design a selection of innovative, sophisticated and Canadian-influenced seasonal signature dishes exclusively featured on Air Canada flights in International Business Class and Maple Leaf Lounges. His latest TV show, Origins, has just launched on Telus Optik and will soon be available on Air Canada’s onboard entertainment system.

A native Vancouverite who spent a decade honing his talents in Europe working in Michelin-starred kitchens, David Hawksworth soon emerged as one of Canada’s leading culinary talents upon his return to Vancouver. In 2005 he was named Chef of the Year by Vancouver magazine and in 2008 David became the youngest chef inductee in to the BC Restaurant Hall of Fame.

Named Restaurant of the Year in 2012 by both Vancouver magazine and Maclean’s magazine, Hawksworth restaurant has held the title of Best Upscale Dining by Vancouver magazine each year consecutively since opening. Canada’s Best Restaurants currently recognizes Hawksworth to the top 10 across the country and no.1 in Western Canada, with sister restaurant Nightingale recognized as 5th best in the province; Hawksworth has firmly anchored himself at the helm of the Vancouver – and Canadian – dining scene.

In 2013 he launched the Hawksworth Young Chef Scholarship Foundation, which annually awards $10,000 and an International stage to boost the career of a young professional chef. Hawksworth

donates his time to a number of charitable causes including his long-standing commitment to Fishing For Kids the West Coast Fishing Club’s annual charity tournament benefiting the Canucks Autism Network.